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The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

The law doesn't side with rape victims. Police sometimes align themselves with sexual assailants. It's difficult to get justice if you've been raped. Political pressure can be brought to bear to protect teenage boys who come from respected or powerful families when they commit sex crimes. Too often victims do not report their attacks to avoid the ordeal law enforcement will put them through and the humiliation others may subject them to. On the other hand, girls who have been raped can band together to support each other and bring public attention to the frequency of such attacks.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Sexual assault victims show courage and perseverance as they struggle to recover from trauma and learn not to internalize insults and accusations hurled by friends and families of their assailants. Teenagers drink too much, then exercise bad judgment that can result in sexual assaults. Teenage boys don't take responsibility for forcing sex on girls who are either not giving consent or are too drunk to consent. Some of the boys claim the girls "wanted it." Police and prosecutors go easy on boys who commit sexual assault, suggesting that the assaulted girls just move on with their lives, as the boys have done. One man is outraged that the media have focused on the rapes rather than reporting on the town's great golf course, fishing, and other noteworthy assets. Audrie's brother coaches Little League and teaches the boys about respect for women.

Violence

Sexual assaults are described. A teenage girl commits suicide a week after being sexually assaulted. The assailants drew all over her naked body using permanent markers, photographed her, and distributed the humiliating photos on the internet. Cyberbullying and isolation from former friends followed. Another rape victim, age 14, had been drinking and was then fed even more alcohol, in nearly lethal amounts, by her assailants, all friends of her high school-age brother. She was raped and left unconscious, out in the cold overnight. The boys went largely unpunished for the crimes.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Audrie & Daisy is a 2016 documentary that explores the way both the criminal justice system and society punish teenage (usually female) victims of sexual assault, sometimes blaming them for inciting sexual attack, sometimes depicting them as morally deficient, and sometimes labeling them liars. At the same time, attackers, usually male, are treated to wrist slaps and benefit-of-the-doubt leniency. Graphic narratives recount sexual assaults of 14-year-olds and subsequent ostracism and cyberbullying so vicious as to discourage other victims to drop charges, leave town, and sometimes commit suicide. The enormous role social media plays in escalating the victims' pain and suffering is outlined extensively. Language is explicit, including "f--k," "s--t," "d--k," "crap," and "bitch." Young teens drink alcohol in excessive amounts, making them vulnerable to bad judgment and sexual predators.

What's the story?

Too drunk to consent to sex, 14-year-old Daisy was raped in 2012 by a 17-year-old football star in their small Midwestern community. The boy claimed it was consensual, even though he dumped her, unconscious, in front of her home afterward, where she lay until morning. When her mother found Daisy outside, her hair was frozen to the ground. Her blood alcohol level was later determined to have been near lethal level. The boy wasn't convicted of rape, but Daisy and her family were relentlessly abused online, and her home was burned to the ground. The filmmakers pursued several stories around the country about teenage girls sexually assaulted by friends or acquaintances, finding remarkable similarities in the events and their aftermath. In the case of Audrie, 15, whose post-rape naked body was covered in drawings made by her assailants in permanent ink, photos of her ordeal went viral online. The humiliation drove her to suicide within a week of the attack. Others with similar stories band together seeking strength and comfort in numbers and to publicize their horror stories. The hope is to bring public attention to the widespread problem and save victims from depression and worse.

Is it any good?

AUDRIE & DAISY is a well-intentioned exploration of the all-too-familiar story of rape victims who are victimized a second time by both society and negligent law enforcement authorities. Although the film has a great deal of educational value, peers of the sexual assault victims depicted here -- teens age 14 and up -- may find this movie too emotionally challenging to benefit from or even take in its message. The filmmakers don't judge, but it’s pretty hard to argue with their conclusion: that irresponsible teen drinking plays a large part in terrible, life-changing sexually violent situations. After she's assaulted does the older and wiser Daisy report that going to the home of an older boy after she'd been drinking (thinking that others might think she was "cool" if she did so) wasn't a good idea. The implication is that 14-year-olds may not make the best decisions on important matters -- and, since judgment is further impaired by alcohol, that teens who drink are exponentially worse off.

Daisy also learns too late that sexual crimes turn justice upside down, as girls who are assaulted are routinely branded as sluts, and in some cases even their families are ostracized, while the assailants may be let off due to supposed lack of evidence and the leniency of male-dominated law enforcement agencies. This documentary is powerful but best for mature teens who can handle the heavy content. It can certainly be used to start a discussion about drinking, consent, and double standards for girls regarding sexual activity.

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